Toni Morrison's Newest Novel
by pkooger
Toni Morrison, Pulitzer and Nobel-Prize winning author of Beloved, is back with her 9th novel, a haunting story set in America's dark past. A Mercy takes us back to 17th century America, pictured as a kind of wild paradise with a poisonous edge. The story centers around an Anglo-Dutch trader named Jacob; his wife Rebekka, who has fled from a life of poverty in England; their servant Lina, one of the last remnants of a smallpox-ravaged tribe; Florens, a 16-year old African slave; and Sorrow, a racially mixed survivor of a shipwreck. Morrison expertly revisits the themes of her previous books, the main one being the devastating and damning effects of human slavery, both for those who are dominated and for those who do the dominating. A Mercy forces the reader to see more than just the obvious institution of legal slavery through the slave trade; we also see the essential slavery of the native peoples of America, the indentured lower classes, and women. Morrison's latest book is an epic tragedy and a powerful experience.
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